At his sold-out show at the Met, Sting revamped hits from his solo career and from his lauded run with the legendary Police. It’s not easy to rearrange favorites.

Sting is a living testament to staying in shape. The 68-year old rock iconoclast could pass for 38. Sting, with his blondish hair and muscular arms, is certainly fit. Even more impressive is the 17-time Grammy Award winner’s set of pipes.

The ace singer-songwriter, who easily veers from pop to rock to reggae, still possesses his distinctive voice, which is on a par with how he sounded when he fronted the seminal Police more than a generation ago. Few senior citizen singers sound like they did during the salad days. There’s Sting and Smokey Robinson and both opted for clean living at an early age.

Sting, clad in all black while performing Sunday at a sold-out Met, belted out tunes while his left arm was in a sling. It was odd experiencing Sting, who suffered a torn tendon in his shoulder, without a bass or a guitar in his hands. But it worked out thanks to his crack six-piece band.

Sting revamped hits from his solo career and from his lauded run with the legendary Police. It’s not easy to rearrange favorites. Some recording artists make costly mistakes. Counting Crows, for example, turned their bouncy hit “Mr. Jones” into a dirge live. Bad move.

Jazzy versions of “Wrapped Around Your Finger” and “Walking on the Moon” worked. Sting didn’t mess much with “Every Breath You Take,” which is near perfect. Such a case could be made for much of Sting’s catalog. But if anyone has the right to rearrange or tweak songs, it’s Sting, who makes as many headlines for his alleged love of tantric sex (is that how he suffered the tendon injury?) and supposed pretension as he does for his work as a singer-songwriter.

Sting revealed mid-show that he grew up a country fan who loved Hank Williams while coming of age in England. That shouldn’t be a surprise since both set a high standard for songwriting.

The briskly paced hour and 45-minute set was filled with hits and thoughts from Sting, who waxed about his career and life throughout the evening. We know all about his re-imagined songs but will Sting have a new album for us before he celebrates his 70th birthday?

(c) Burlington County Times by Ed Picks